Method of and apparatus for manufacturing textile fleece



Sept. 11, 1928.

- P. H. WALSH ram-Hon or AND APPARATUS FOR muumc'runme TEXTILE FLEECE Iwvewi'or A/M/M Patented Sept. 11, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATRICK H. WALSH, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CARO CLOTH GOR- PATENT OFFICE.

FORATION, OF CAROLINA, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

KETHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING TEXTILE FLEECE.

Application filed September 11, 1926. Serial No. 134,785.

My present invention relates to textile apparatus and more particularly to an improved textile apparatus for the manufacture of the product known as batting.

In the manufacture of fabric by needling a web of fleece onto a base fabric, such for example, as burlap, a difiiculty has been experienced in obtaining a web of fleece of sufficient thickness while at the same time insuring that the web of fleece will be of the same thickness over the entire area of the product. Heretofore the necessary thickness has been obtained by stripping the web of fleece from the doffer of a carding machine and folding such web of fleece back upon itself the desired number of times to obtain the desired thickness that is to be needled to the base fabric. It is impossible, however, with such a procedure to obtain a web of fleece which will be of an even thickness throughout its entire area and consequently the resulting product is not even in thickness. Particularly does such product taper off in thickness along the edges and along the folds of the web of fleece; It has further been proposed to obtain the desired thickness of the web of fleece by stripping from the dofier of the plurality of carding machines the web of fleece, rolling each web of fleece onto an arbor and afterwards combining together a sufficient number of webs of fleece to form a combined web of fleece of the desired thickness. This latter procedure is objectional from several standpoints. It is relatively expensive and the resulting product cannot compete successfully in the market. The various webs of fleece when rolled upon each other have a natural tendency to felt and it has been found practically impossible to unroll the various fleeces and superimpose one upon the other and obtain a uniform or combined web of fleece of uniform thickness.

In my present invention, I have devised a new and improved form of carding machine from which I am enabled to take off simultaneously a plurality ofwebs of fleece and feed such websof fleece to a common meeting point where they are superimposed upon another and simultaneously superimposed upon the base fabric, which base fabric moves at the same surface speed as the various webs of fleece are produced and pass under a needling device, where the web of fleece is necd led to the base fabric in a continuous operatlon. The resulting product is absolutely unlform in thickness throughout its entire area and the various webs of fleece may be suflicient in number to insure a thickness of carded fibres suificient for the purpose in hand. By this method of procedure the webs of fleece taken off are each of uniform thickness throughout their area and not being folded on the other but merely placed or superimposed upon the next succeeding lower web of fleece, the natural tendency to felt will take place between layers and is a decided advantage.

The principal object of my invention, therefore, is an improved carding machine.

Another object of my invention is an improved carding'machine for producing simultaneously a plurality of independent webs of fleece.

A further object of my invention is an improved carding machine for producing simultaneously a plurality of independent webs of fleece in combination with means for feeding said webs of fleece to a common exit.

A still further object of my invention is an improved carding machine for producing a plurality of independent webs of fleece in combination with means for feeding said webs of fleece into a position where the webs of fleece are superimposed upon each other.

Other objects and novel features of the construction and arrangement of parts of the apparatus will appear as the description of the invention progresses.

In the drawings the figure illustrates diagrammatically an improved carding machine embodying the preferred form of my invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown diagrammatically a carding machine, the framework and driving belts of which have been omitted for the sake of clearness and in this drawing. 10 designates the usual main cylinder rotating in the direction of the arrow shown and at any desired speed, this main cylinder being mounted for rotation on a shaft 11. Arranged parallel to the shaft 11 is a second shaft 12 carrying a dofl'er 13 which rotates in the direction of the arrow shown, it being understood that both the main cylinder 10 and the doffer 13 are provided with the usual clothing (not shown). Arranged about the main cylinder 10 on shafts 14, 15,

16, 17, 18 and 19, are worker rolls 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25 respectively, such worker rolls also being provided with the usual clothing and the rolls rotating in the direction of the arrow shown. Associated with the worker roll 20 is a tumbler roll 26 mounted on a shaft 27 that lies parallel to the shaft 14 and therefore to the shaft of the main cylinder 10. Stock is fed between the tumbler roll 26 and the worker roll 20 and is carried a round by the clothing of the main cylinder 10 and distributed to the worker rolls 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 where the fibres of the stock are gradually straightened out and laid parallel to each other, the thickness of the layer of stock on h main cylinder and therefore on the worker rolls 21 to 25 inclusive, depending on the amount of stock fed between the rolls 26 and 20. Associated with the worker rolls 21, 22 and 23, are stripper rolls 28, 29 and 30 respectively mounted on shafts 31. 32 and 33 respectively that lie parallel to the shaft 11 of the main cylinder 10. The stripper rolls 31, 32 and'33 rotate in the direction of the arrows shown and serve to strip the stock from the worker rolls 21. 22 and 23 and back onto the main cylinder 10. This is the usual procedure. Parallel to the shaft 11 of the main cylinder 10 is a shaft 34 carrying the usual brush roll or fancy 35 which serves to bring the carded fibres to the surface of the card clothin of the main cylinder 10 where it will be ta en up by the dofler 13. From the dotler 13 the stock is stripped by means of a wiping roll 36 mounted on a shaft 37.

This roll being provided with the usual clothing and rotating in the direction of the arrow shown, the stock coming off the wiping roll 36 is laid onto an endless conveyor belt 38, the upper reach of which moves in the direction of the arrow shown and from such endless conveyor belt the stock is fed onto a base fabric 39 that passes over a pair of rolls, but one of which 40 is shown, this roll being mounted on a shaft 41-and rotating in the direction of the arrow shown. The base fabric 39 may be in the form of an endless belt extending between two similar rolls 40 or may be in the form of belting of indeterminate length, which may be fed from a rail or drum (not shown) and from a pair of rolls 40 to be again rewound onto a drum. Above the up er reach of the endless conveyor 38 and ad acent to the wiping roll 36 is an idler roll 42 which serves to slightly compress the stock or web of fleece as it passes oil the wiping roll 36 onto the endless conveyor 38.

It will be noted that there are no stripping rolls associated with the worker rolls 24 and 25 and I propose in my present invention to utilize such worker rolls 24 and 25 as the equivalent of the dofl'er 13. Obviously suc'h worker rolls 24 and 25 remove from the stock in the main cylinder 10 a certain amount of such stock and I associate with the worker roll 25 a stri per or wiping roll 43 which strips from ti le worker roll 25 the material that may be on the clothing thereof and later deposit the same at the upper end of an endless conve or 44, the upper reach of which moves in tie direction indicated by the arrow and the exit end of this conveyor 44 terminatts adjacent to but slightly above the delivery end of the endless conveyor 38. If we indicate the web of fleece passin off from the endless conveyor 38 by the regerence numeral 45 it will be seen that the web of fleece 46 that passes off from the endless conveyor 44 will he superimposed on the web of fleece 45, thus producing a web of fleece equal in thickness to the cou'ibined thickness of such webs 45 and 46. Associated with the combined worker and wiper 43 and with the upper end of the endless couveyor 44 is a compressing roll 47, the purpose of which is identical with that of the compressing roll 42, above described. Also associated with the worker roll 24 is a combined worker and wiper roll 48 which strips the stock from the worker roll 24 and deposits the same onto the upper reach of an endless conveyor 49, which conveyor has its upper reach moving in the direction of the arrow shown and its lower end terminating at a point abovethe delivery end of the endless conveyors 38 and 42 and will deposit therefore the web of fleece 50 carried thereby onto the web of fleece 46, thus resulting in a combined web of fleece equal in thickness to the combined thickness of the webs of fleece 45, 46 and 50. Also associated with the combined worker and wiper 48 and with the upper end of the conveyor 49 is a compressing roll 51 similar in character and function to the compressing rolls 42 and 47.

In the drawings I have utilized not only the dofi'er 13 to roduce a web of fleece as 45 but have utilize also the worker rolls 24 and 25 to reduce webs of fleece 46 and 50. I find that t is leaves an ample number of worker rolls to properly carry out the carding operation and as a matter of fact I may utilize as web-forming elements as many of the workrolls less 2 as are on the cardin machine and yet obtain a satisfactory web 0 fleece.

The surface speed of the various webs 45, 46. 50 etc., are equal and also are equal to the surface speed of the base fabric 39. The resuit is that the web of fleece 45 is superimposed upon the base fabric 49; the web of fleece 46 is superim osed upon the web of fleece 45, and the web 0 fleece 50 is superimposed upon the web of fleece 46, and as there is no relative motion between the various webs of fleece and the base fabric, and as such webs of fleece extend throughout the width of the base fabric 39, it is obvious that when the various webs of fleeces are united as a unit b the needling process described and claimed in my co endmg application, Serial No. 689,714 filed anuary 31, 1924, that I will have produced in a single, continuous operation an improved product, such for example, as 1s described and claimed in my copending application, Serial- No. 64,486, filed October 24, 1925. Also, it

is obvious that I may produce by this machine a fleece which is of the necessary and desired thickness whereby it is possible to produce an improved fabric by the needling process as a sin le continuous operation and in which the thickness of the completed material will beuniform throughout its entire area. Obviously, either of the worker rolls 24 or 25 may be-dispensed with and a combined fleece consisting of but two may-be utilized into the manufacture of an improved fabric, or each of the worker rolls 24 and 25 may be utilized to produce, as they now do, their respective webs oi fleece 5t) and 46 and the endless conveyors 49 and 44 may be utilized to convey to any desired point the webs of fleece thus produced, where such Webs of fleece may be utilized in any manner desired. Therefore, my improved carding machine may be utilized to produce at will a single web of fleece or a plurality of webs of fleece, which webs of fleece may be combined again into a single product or may be transferred to any point desired and utilized separately.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

The combination, with a base fabric and means for moving the same at a predetermined speed, of a cardingmachine having a dofl'er, means associated therewith for removing therefrom a web of fleece formed of material passingthrough the carding machine, an endless conveyor associated therewith and receiving the web of fleece therefrom and delivering the same onto the base fabric at the same speed as said fabric, of a plurality of supplementalweb forming elements arranged in advance of the doffer, and endless conveyors associated with said supplemental web forming means for delivering said supplemental webs to the moving base fabric and at the same speed as the speed of said fabric and to a position over and onto the first said web, whereby the plurality of webs of fleeces are delivered to the moving base fabric in superimposed relation to each other and at the same speed of travel as the speed of travel as the base fabric.

Intestimony whereof, I have signed my name I to this specification.

PATRICK H. WALSH. 

